Larisa Calvanese, a mother of three who lives in Downers Grove, is no fan of online learning.
"There's no routine," she said. "They are home alone when the parents have to go to work. They set their alarm five minutes before they are supposed to log into a Zoom class. Being home alone, with no interaction, is not good."
After online school is over for the day, students "do go out anyway and meet with their friends," said Calvanese." I think they would be safer in school, following all the protocols."
She is not afraid of COVID-19, believing that it is no worse than the flu.
"I think there is a lot of hysteria about it," she said. If you are afraid of this, don't leave your house ever. You might get hit by a car. How about when we had H1N? Did we shut down the entire economy? Was Obama the devil? I don't think so."
However, the minority of people who are afraid of COVID-19 are prevailing on school policy, she believes.
"The few who are afraid to go back are controlling and deciding everything for everyone else," she said. "That's not right."
She sees children out playing in her neighborhood every day when they are not in school.
"Kids are not passing it on, they're not getting it, and if they do, they're fine," she said. "Kids still play out in the street. No one is getting sick. I don't know of anyone who has COVID."
Parents deserve a choice, Calvanese believes.
"We're adults, let us make our own decisions," she said. "If the kids want to go remote, let those kids go remote. Don't stop the kids and parents who want to go back to school from going back to school. Let us have our choice."
She would favor a property tax rebate if schools do not open for in-person learning soon. Although her youngest child is now a senior in high school, if her kids were young, Calavanese would consider a private school, "that's going all day, every day."
Calvanese is also frustrated that Illinois public schools keep changing plans about reopening.
"There was an entire Facebook group that came to the support of the teachers at our school," she said. "Our administration had a great plan to do hybrid, and then at the last minute, the board decided they didn't want to do that, and so we went fully remote after that. Honestly, I am exhausted trying to keep up. I literally can not keep up any more."
She is glad her children will soon no longer attend public schools but worries about those families who will follow.
"I'm just glad I am in the exit lane," she said. "I'm so sad for the people who are behind me.
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